Pictures and Stories and News...Oh my!!!

Andre is on the left with his trainer Elder Tingey next to him

This email might be a little disorganized, but I hope that you all enjoy hearing from me a little bit more. I apologize for not saying a lot of this earlier, but P days have gotten busier and busier.

Today we visited the Gorilla park and got to see a bunch of gorillas and stuff. They are on a reserve here in Cameroon, and, well, it's a zoo dedicated to gorillas. You can get pretty close to them though. There was a time where we got to walk through a dense portion of jungle. It was really neat. Probably (and surprisingly) the funnest part was walking on this trail next to one of the enclosures of gorillas, and trying to dodge the poop they throw at you (yes, throw at you. Elder Shmid got hit a little). 

There was also a really gigantic tree there (as you can see in the picture). I'm not sure how big it really was, but one thing is certain: I really want a treehouse in a tree that big and tall.

I had my first baptism baptism this week. I baptized Valerie. She is the daughter of another investigator we have named Daniel (I used his bathroom a couple transfers ago). She has been attending church regularly for a couple months, and has heard all the lessons plusiers fois, mais (translation: several times, but) she only accepted baptism recently. She got baptized with her cousin, who Elder Tingey baptized. Brother Daniel was so excited about that. He jumped up and hugged us when he heard the news.

I got to play piano for sacrement meeting a couple times. I can't play - at all, really. I can play the melody in the right hand and then play chords with my left. It works out okay - we have a super watered down hymn book thingy here. The way the name the chords and stuff in French is different than in English (they use solifege, but "do" is always the note "C." So there are chords that say "Si b" and that trips me up a bit. I tend to think of it all abstractly).

We caroled people this week. I just took a guitar around and played chords around a couple of hymns and sang with people. It was fun. I got to really brush up on my guitar playing, and it ended up being really useful! Don't ever tell your children that playing guitar or anything is stupid (mine didn't; they encouraged me playing guitar, just for the record). It ended up being really valuable. People really liked having the guitar with us.

Elder Tingey is getting transferred! After being in the same sector and Apartment for a full year, he is going to Douala. Elder Buck will be replacing him here. Elder Buck is from Douala. I only met him in passing once. He trained my friend Elder Nash, and now Elder Tingey will probably be finishing his mission there in Douala.

The other day we bumped into a white guy, and I felt really akward talking to him. It was the strangest thing ever. Here is a guy from the states, speaking my native tongue the way I speak it, and I couldn't hardly look at him in the eye without feeling really akward. It's kind of fun to be so completely enveloped in a culture that it feels strange to interact with some other part of the culture I was originally used to back home. In the states, just talking to another white guy wouldn't faze me (obviously). Now that I have lived here for a couple months, talking to anyone who doesn't belong to Cameroonian/Central African culture, in appearance, language and mannerism, is completely foreign to me. It's strange, but it's fun to be able to say that I am now comfortable with another man's culture.

A brief explanation: there are only three areas in my mission where I can serve: Pointe Noire in Congo Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Douala and Yaoundé in Cameroon. Those are the only cities that are safe for whites to live in. There are a couple of other places to serve in my mission, but I will never see the DRC, nor the other side of Congo Brazzaville. The gospel is not yet in Gabon, Central African Republic and Equitorial Guinea. Gabon might be opening soon, but their argument is "Well, we have over 300 churches in our country. Why do we need yours too?" Well, if you have 300, 301 isn't quite such a big difference, is it? We hope that Gabon is a little bit more receptive soon.

I hope you enjoyed more anecdotes and pictures this week. I love you all and I hope you have all had a merry Christmas!

- Elder LaFleur

From Kendrick

So, I just wanted to mention how blessed we feel as a family to have Andre serve our Heavenly Father in this way. He loves his mission and its exciting to watch him grow. He loves Cameroon and the people there.
Yesterday, for Christmas, Andre was allowed to contact us. Usually missionaries can call home only on Christmas and Mother's Day. Thanks to today's technology, we were able to not just talk to Andre, but see him as well, thanks to Skype! I took advantage of the moment and we took a family picture. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing an interest in my son and his adventures in Africa.

NOt much time but... December 19, 2011

I wanted to send a couple pictures. So this is Elder Tingey and I with our new machetes. We went au champs this week (worked on someone's farm) and so we decided that in order to be prepared to do it again, we needed machetes. I took a couple of pictures like this. Just remember that the "field is white already to harvest."

Pictures, andd..... December 5, 2011

Here is a picture of our zone at thanksgiving with all our food, and here is a nigerian song that is super popular here. Elder Tingey was able to get a copy of the CD and I ripped it to my flash drive. Don't worry - I'm not listening to it. I really wanted to know what kind of music is popular here, and well, here it is.

One more experience while everything is loading. I bumped into a musician the other day, and he and I talked a little bit. He was a guitar player, didn't know how to read music, but man could he play. The style of music here fills two genres: religous and pop, and this guy mixed the two. He played this song for us where one of the lyrics was "Shake your body for Jesus." To be honest, it felt really sacriligious, but he could really play guitar.

That's something that's interesting here in cameroon. Everyone believes in God, everyone is chrisitian, and everyone loves to talk about it. That's one of the more difficult parts of serving here - you get people who just want to talk, not committ to a specific church.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Per usual, not much time... December 5, 2011

So I'll type as much as possible here.

First of all, thank you for your emails. It really means a lot to me hearing from all of you. I hope you all enjoy reading these ones.

This week, per usual, not much has happened. We had thanksgiving, and that was fun. I'll send pictures of our zone at thanksgiving. Basically, we just ate a bunch of rottisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as drinking Djino and Topamplamoose. It was fantastic.

Francoise is going to be baptized, most probably. I have high hopes for December 24th. She has totally committed and is now reading her scriptures and stuff every day. I love going to see her. I just really hope she wants to keep going.

I have a couple new investigators I'm excited about. Francois (unrelated to francoise) works at Camtel (cameroonian telephone company) and he is awesome. I love going to see him. He's a really sharp guy, and after giving him the book of Mormon, read through the first 5 chapters of 2 Nephi, from the start. He has committed to living the word of Wisdom, which is tough for him to do, but I really hope he is going to pull through and make it to baptism. I get the feeling he will.

Charles is the husband of a recent convert. Charles has had a troubled past, and has had some troubles with his wife, but now is coming to church, and has started settling differences and helping his wife out with stuff. He is really receptive of the gospel, and has also committed to the Word of Wisdom. I really hope he makes it to baptism too. I get the feeling he will - he already has extra support from his wife.

Sorry this email is skimpy. I don't have much time... Again...

- Elder LaFleur

More fun times from central africa - November 28, 2011

Bonsoir, devoted readers and fans!

So recently, we have been rebuilding. Our two most progressing investigators got baptized (the doctor and his wife), and so now we are in rebuild mode. I have high hopes for a few of our investigators, but our biggest challenge is having investigators get to church. Investigators coming to church is super important because it signals an investigator is progressing towards baptism. We don't want to baptize someone who isn't going to be active at church.

I think the reason church attendance is such a difficult key indicator to have a high number of here is because of the cultural opinion of what church should be. On average, people don't go to church to worship God, although that's what the pastor will be saying you're doing. Church here is more of a social gathering and performance than it is a sacred time to worship the Lord. Elder Tingey went to another church once (he promised an investigator that he would go to his congregation if the investigator came to ours), and told me all about it.

Basically, it started out with a rock band up front playing rock music. They were all getting into it and stuff, the band was totally rocking out, and there would be a pastor up front yelling stuff through a microphone. The pastor finally said "Alright, now confess your sins!" and everyone jumped up and started screaming all their sins. There was a guy there who yelled something like "I'm committing adultery with my neighbor!" while another guy was like "I stole from the supermarché!" and this and that. The band is still all rocking out and stuff, and then gigantic baskets get passed around. The pastor yells "Pay money and God will forgive your sins!" This money, of course, goes straight to the pastor, but never mind that. People are dropping like 50 000 cFa into these baskets (that's like $100; a lot for Cameroon), sometimes more into these baskets.

Finally after like a half hour of this the pastor calms everything down and asks for more donations in white envelopes. He said something like "Now this donation is between you and God." The woman next to Elder Tingey was dropping another 50 000 cFa into this thing. After that, the pastor gave a brand new mercedes to a random guy. The guy in the congregation who got the mercedes talked about how he has been praying for a new car.

Finally, the talking started, and the pastor taught something. Basically he taught that "Not all revelation from God is acceptable." Basically if God gives you an answer to a prayer you don't like, you pray and tell him to change it. He claimed that prayer is what changes the will of God (not a belief in our faith; you should always pray humbly).

And so, church for other people here is like going to a rock show. So a lot of people have trouble going to our church, where we don't have a band or dancing and dolling out the free cars. 

In other news, I finished the 12 week program for training. I am now a full fledged in the field missionary! I had to be trained for 2 transfers, and now I'm trained!

We are getting some new missionaries in the next few months. One is coming January (he should be entering the MTC in the next couple weeks), as well as a bunch more in may when Elder Tingey's generation leaves (that's a replacement force of 10 more missionaries; not a whole lot of missionaries get called to Cameroon). 

Elder Tingey and I had a cake off recently. Basically I took the recipe my mom gave me and Elder Tingey took his recipe and we gave it to a bunch of people and asked which was better without telling them who's cake is who's. It ended up being a tie, unless you count Elder Tingey's vote, in which I would have won. But whatever. I just enjoyed eating all that cake.

I also taught a District meeting using a nice long allegory about jazz ensembles. I don't have my notes with me, but next week I'll bring back what I taught.

Anyways, that's it for this week. Bonsoirée, and Excelsior!

- Elder LaFleur

All Your Base Are Belong To Us...

This week is moving along nicely. I had an interesting experience with a couple of pastors though.

So this week I got told that I am going to hell, and dragging everyone else around me down too. It was actually kind of funny. I thought for sure I would get all upset when it happened, but it ended up being a nice contrast.

There is an investigator named Francoise (not real name) who knows that our church is true. But there is a pastor Etienne and a pastor Steven who belong to her old church who keep showing up and telling her that she needs to come back to their church. She isn't though. She knows that our church is true.

Anyways, we show up one day to talk to Francoise about stuff, and pastor Steven laughed and said something along the lines of "If you give me a million cFa, I will join your church." Elder Tingey totally chatiè'd him (chastised in broken franglais) by quoting the scripture "seek ye first the kingdom of God." Pastor Steven got all emberassed and was about to walk away when pastor Etienne showed up and started getting in our faces. Then pastor Steven tag teamed with him and yelled loud and clear that we are of the devil, we are preaching the devil's doctrine and that we need to go back home and fix our gospel. 

I didn't say anything. To be honest, it was kind of pathetic. I mean, there are differences between our two churches, but we don't march up into people's faces and tell them they are of the devil. The only thing I could think about was the reference Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." And so, we just stood there for 30 minutes and let them tell us that we are evil. I figured it wasn't worth arguing, despite the fact that they were saying plenty of things that are not true. So Elder Tingey and I just stood there.

The situation reminded Elder Tingey of something a Congolese Elder told him (his name was Elder Nsimba, and he was the man). Elder Nsimba said that "People only throw rocks at a mango tree if there is good fruit." So the only reason people were bashing us is because we have good fruit! Just like it says in the scriptures, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."

They packed up and left, and then we talked to Francoise for a minute, and then set up another rendezvous with her. We then went back later and Etienne was there. He kind of looked dumbfounded. We walked in and sat down, and right before we started, Etienne ran off. We spoke with Francoise and had a really awesome rendezvous. The Spirit was super strong, and she is getting closer to baptism. Once again, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."

Please note that I did not mention any denomination that these two belong to. This was on purpose. We as missionaries do not seek to bash another man's form of worship. We don't even enforce ours on other people. We invite others to come unto Christ by receiving His restored Gospel. We do not with to diminish any other man's form of worship, and believe that every man should worship as far as his own conscious will allow. 

So that's it for this week. Je vous aime!

- Elder LaFleur

more news in Cameroon.... November 7th 2011

Bonsoir, tout la monde!

Life is still pushing along here in Bastos I. We had a baptism - Brent and his wife have both been baptized. They are a fantastic family! It was such a blast teaching them. Brent said that he didn't want to wear the jumpsuit, so he bought his own clothes. His wife got a nice dress too. They're almost temple ready! She just needs longer sleeves.

Brent bought his own clothes because he said that the jumpsuits make people look like prisoners. He said something like "I'm about to be a free man! I don't want to be in a prison outfit when I'm about to be relinquished from my sins!" And so, he looked super sharp at his baptism.

That was so incredible to see. I am so grateful that the Lord placed them in my path. I am so grateful that the Lord let me teach this family the gospel. That was really a wonderful experience. I probably looked like a total dufus at the baptism because I was all smiles the whole time. 

Teaching that family shows that the Lord is preparing every one of us to hear the gospel. The Biloungas have totally been prepared to hear this gospel and to accept this message. They accepted everything we taught so readily. The Spirit was always super strong in every rendezvous we had. It was really a blast teachign them. 

I wanted to thank you all for sending me recipes the last time. Thank you all for sending me recipes.

I have received a lot of questions about me getting packages and mail. Turns out I can send mail and receive packages. Here is what you must do:

1. Find something to mail me. Food is okay, but you have to make sure it is in a tough container. Cardboard and plastic are easily opened by mice - a strong plastic or metal tin container are the best things to send food in. 

2. My address is the following:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Elder Andre Charles-Philip LaFleur

B.P. 3171

Douala, Cameroon

Send it to that address. If it's a normal letter, you can get away with an international stamp (about $1). If it's a package, you can USPS it (super costly, but more reliable) or Post Office (less costly, unreliable).

3. The missionarry couple in Douala will pick it up for me when it gets to cameroon - about 2 or 3 months. Cameroonian government looks inside every package they receive, and then you have to pay them depending on what is inside it. Don't send packages near Christmas - then it costs lots of money for them to pick it up. If you send something valuable, it costs even more (once again, Cameroon got number 1 on "most corrupted country" list a couple years ago). Save yourselves and us some money - don't send anything valuable. To be honest, all I really want is American candy. Skittles, Warheads, Twizzlers pull'n'peelz.... And my mom's homemade blackberry jam. The money that the couple in Douala pays I will have to pay them back in full.

Speaking of homemade, can I get your recipe for bread mom? I want to bake my own - despite the fact the baguettes here are so good.

And so, that is what's happening here in Bastos I. I hope you are all enjoying your time in the states. I am loving it here in Cameroon. I will send some more pictures of scenery next week.

- Elder LaFleur

Some more happenings this week: Oct 31, 2011

Before I commence this email, it has been made known to me that I'm not supposed to use real names of people. So I'm changing people's names. Please remember though that these are realpeople, with real problems, whom of which God is really helping out through me. 

The doctor for example (I'll call him Brent) and his wife (Josephine). So Brent totally knows that this church is true. He has gained a testimony and everything. His wife, however, hasn't received that. This week we decided to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" with the two of them. Tears were flowing (on their end - that never happens to cameroonians) and I bore testimony of Jesus Christ. After the nice lesson we ate dinner and left. We were walking down to the street when Brent called us and said "Dieu est magnifique." His wife spontaneously walked out of the kitchen after we left and said "Je dois me faire baptisé." We are so excited for them to be baptized. They are a wonderful family, and so Elder Tingey and I jumped and cheered after hearing that.

Another investigator we have is named Joshua. Joshua is a teacher for other congregations. Basically people call him up and say "Hey, I'll pay you X number of Francs to go and teach this congregation today." When we first taught him, he was really debative with everything we taught. But he decided to try reading the Book of Mormon, and studied it carefully (he really knows his stuff in the Bible. He wanted to prove us wrong). He told us about how while he was reading one night though, he heard this voice that said "Toutes les choses ils ont dit sont vraies. Ne doubte pas." And so, he knows without question that this message is true! 

I remember meeting him my first day. He had a darkened countenance. He was kind of grouchy and was frustrated with the fact that our message and church different than his. But he kept going to church and kept reading the Book of Mormon. Now when we see him he is very peaceful and happy all the time. Every time we see him, he is smiling. His countenance shines now. He is just on the cusp of baptism. I hope and pray that he makes that last change to join this church, because he knows it's true.

So Cameroonian french is dirty french. I had some people ask me about it a little while ago, and it's really funny. To say "It's been forever" you say "Ca fait depuis!" (literally translated "It's been since!"). Or instead of saying "Comment ca va?" they will say "Oh, Elder LaFleur! C'est comment?" (literally "It's how?") It's really funny to hear anglophones speak too - they speak literally translated french. They say these phrases in english: "Elder! How?" I actually really like the cameroonian french. It's a fun difference than the french I have been taught my whole life.

Anyways, I hope all your lives are good. Excelsior!

- Elder LaFleur

Answering questions....

I'm going to answer some questions here.

Q: How many Elders work Yaounde?

A: There are a total in 8: 4 in two different apartments. We have a companionship for each branch (4 branches). There are two in Bastos and two in Ekunu. I'm in Bastos I.

Q: Do you ever meet as a district?

A: Our apartment is our district. As far as further, larger organization goes, we do not have a district currently. Just branch presidents and the mission President over them. So sometimes life is tough when branch presidents aren't unified with us or their members (not always the branch president's fault; all our presidents are wonderful people).

Q: How about Zone Conferences?

A: We just had one! It was great. It's typically once per month, and only occasionally the Mission President is there. Turns out President Jameson is only at the mission home 8 days a month. This is not your typical "California Mission." We are pretty remote here in Cameroon.

Q: Do you ever see the assistants to the President?

A: Nope. In fact, I will probably never be an AP, nor any North American Elder. DR Congo is still in heavy war, and so it's not safe for me to be there, or any white for that matter.

Q: Do you keep track of how many teaching hours, how many contacting hours and stuff like that?

A: We keep track of number of teaching visits in the presence of a member, to recent converts or less actives, or to other investigators. We keep track of the "key indicators," eight different things we keep track of (see PMG [Preach My Gospel] chapter 8). If you're interested in being a missionary, or if you have to work with missionaries, read that book. It is a gold mine of information and mission stuff. It's the crown jewel of learning how to be a good missionary.

Q: Are there any sisters serving in your mission?

A: Yes, but they're in Brazzaville, Congo. They aren't even members of the Pointe Noire zone there, so I will never see them. In fact, I don't think sisters get sent to Cameroon, period, at least from North America. Don't know why.

Q: Was that picture taken inside of the Relief Society President's house?

A: No. It was in front.

Q: What is that curtain behind her?

A: That was the entrance to the bathroom of her house. Her house was the kitchen/bedroom/front entry way/family room you saw in the picture, and then a sink in the bathroom. It's really small for her and her two kids (16 and 5) but it was better than where she lived before. She has running water and electricity here!

Cameroonians cover door entrances with curtains. I don't know why. It's just what they do.

So things are moving along in Bastos I. I'm really enjoying it here. Frère Brent (the physician Andre has been teaching the Gospel to; for more about him, see previous posts) is totally gung ho about this gospel, and he is going to be a fantastic member someday. His wife is having trouble accepting completely, but she is progressing. I really love that family. I just got a text message from him the other day about how he knows that God is with us and that we are really helping him and his family. that was really encouraging!

Anyways, I hope you all have a good week this next week! I'll give more information about sending snail mail!

- Elder LaFleur

PS - You don't know a real thunderstorm unless you are in one in africa. The only thing even close to what it loooks like is this techno video by the band called "Underworld," the song named "Two Months Off" or something like that. You stand outside for 15 seconds and you are completely drenched. Rain in Africa is awesome.

More news in Bastos...

This week I will focus on some of the people that I'm teaching. I only have 15 minutes to type this time, so I'll go as fast as I can.

It's funny, Dad, that so many people are like "Where's Cameroon?" I guess it makes sense. Did you know this country is number 1 on the list of "Most Corrupted Countries?" Pretty wild, huh?

Like I said before, the people of Cameroon are incredibly accepting of religion. They all believe in God, and as long as you go to some church of God somewhere you are fine. We have to help them understand that that simply isn't the case. Sometimes you find some people who have some pretty crazy ideas.

We taught one guy, for example, who claimed to be Moses reincarnated. His friend down the street was Elijah reincarnated, and that the two of them know everything. They believed God is the Father, and the Word - whatever that means. We asked him "What does God look like," and the only answer we got was "God is the Word." Elder Tingey, after hearing how he knows everything, asked, "Who was the prophet before Moses?" and the guy couldn't answer. He just stared at us blankly for like 30 seconds. Finally Elder Tingey said, "there wasn't one," (correct answer) and the guy just said, "yeah, I knew that." So that was interesting.

Frère Brent, the doctor, gained a testimony last week. He called us out of the blue and said, "Hey, I was just reading in the Doctrine and Covenants and I know it's true. I want to be baptized ASAP." His family all love the gospel. We gave his kids a Book of Mormon Stories book in English, and they love it! We gave them French hymns also, and they sing and pray and do stuff together as a family. It's a really awesome thing to see.

We recently had an awesome rendezvous. We went out to this house, which was next to a cathedral, and the father of the home is a pastor of the Catholic Church. His wife directs the music, and the whole family sat down to listen to the two of us tell them how the truth has been restored. The father asked us "Do you worship Mary?" (No. She is the mother of Christ, but Christ is whom we worship). "Why don't you have crosses or cross yourself after praying?" (We celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, and the fact that He lives today). "Why don't you pray with a rosary?" (Christ taught to not have vainly repetitious prayers) Finally the father said that we were a secte (French for cult) and walked off and got super drunk in anger. The mom left also, and the kids were glued to every word we said. They all (all seven) were totally prepared to listen to our message. We taught them a little bit more and then left. They all followed us and accompanied us all the way back to the nearest carrefour (French for crossroads or intersection) (about a 15 minute walk). They all really liked us. I talked to the son about going to the states and missions and learning English. It was a really wonderful experience.

I also am sending a couple pictures. I am sending one with my companion, and a couple with some ward members and me. No baptisms yet, but next week we are planning on two or three from our branch. Oh, we typically get about 6-8 baptisms every two weeks here. It's fun, but it's tough.

I love you all. Bon courage!

- Elder LaFleur

P.S. If you want to be a real Cameroonian, to say, "I'm really hungry," you say "J'ai faim jusqau," literally translates to "I'm hungry until!"

10 October 2011 - Today's email is sponsored by food

Bonjour tout la monde! Comment ca va? (I don't know how to make a cedille accent. Sorry)

So today's email is sponsored by food. It will be the major subject for this one.

What I typically eat at the apartment is just these five ingredients cooked in different ways: ground beef, garlic, onions, peppers and tomatoes. I've really grown to like just those things. We often just eat ommellettes (sp?) with those five ingredients, or a pasta with those things in a sauce, or just those five things and lentils and call it "chili" with fried potatoes. That is predominately what we eat for dinner.

For breakfast, we eat a gateau (sp?) which isn't cake, like it says in your dictionary. It's just a type of bread here. We have Corn Flakes, but only either powdered milk (gross) or sterilized milk (also gross), so I don't usually eat Corn Flakes for breakfast. We always drink a ton of water with breakfast to get our doxycycline down.

We don't eat lunch. Sometimes we get a chocolate gateau (just a kind of chocolate sauce inside of a gateau) or a couple beignets (a special type of fried bread - if you can find a recipe, please please PLEASE email it to me).

Speaking of recipes, do any of you have recipes for the following?

Doughnuts (preferably Grandma Fran's best)
French Toast Sticks
White Cake
Beignets
Other cookies and things

As far as African food goes, I have eaten a couple dishes. The thing I like least is definitely a baton. A baton is manyolk (a type of root of a tree that acts a lot like potatoes and tastes far more bland than potatoes) that is soaked in water for a week and then put into a large leaf and left to like, ferment, for a couple weeks. People eat it like americans eat potato chips, and it's pretty gross...

I have eaten a quem - basically the manyolk leaves ground up and boiled with some spices - often a type of pepper called "pima." Don't listen to anyone when they claim that jalepeno peppers or jabenero peppers are the hottest. Not even close. Pima peppers are the hottest peppers ever. If anyone would like to dilute solutions of all of them and then titrate them for me so we can really know for sure, that would be awesome.

I have also eaten fish - mackerel, to be exact. There are ladies who just sell them off the side of the road. They are actually really good. You get some condiment (african condiment - it's green and tastes like mustard, but not as harsh, and has a different texture) and a little pima and it's delicious. It's often served with plantain chips (also good).

Beans and beignets are also common and delicious. Beignets are a type of bread that is fried, like a doughnut, but doesn't taste like a doughnut. It's kind of thick, often covered in sugar, and is really tasty. Like I said, I would really like a beignet recipe.

I have also eaten this cabbage dish with Befaka at a recent convert's house. Befaka is just smoked fish. I ate cabbage boiled up and then mixed with a sauce. It wasn't bad at all. I didn't like the boiled manyolk though.

I can receive mail here. Here is the address:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Elder LaFleur
B.P. 3171
Douala, Cameroon

I will provide more information when possible. Bon chance!

- Elder LaFleur

12 September 2011 - My First Week

Bonjour, tout la monde! So I love Yaoundé. This place is both fantastic and nuts. I love the people here. They are wonderful, and have some of the best and most ridiculous drivers of all time. I don't have much time, but I will try to say everything I can about the stuff you are asking me. My trainer is Elder Tingey, and is the total opposite from your trainer, Dad. He is always setting up tons of stuff in the day. There is never a slow moment here. We are always moving around and teaching. Speaking of which, contacting is pratically nonexistant. We are currently teaching 25 different investigators each of the lessons. More on that later. So Elder Tingey is from Kaysville, like Elder Frazier. He loves missionarry work, and his french has an african accent. He really likes sports, and he is really good at basketball. He is super tall (and I'm pretty short). He is fantastic. No amount of praise could express just how freaking fantastic he is. Let me tell you about what this place is like. Imagine a large set of mountains on Mars, and all over the mountain there is just green foliage. All over the place. The earth here is like walking around on deep red clay, and incredible amounts of green just spring up from the ground. Now imagine a gigantic city right in the middle of it. So you are always going uphill or downhill. That's Yaoundé, and it is beautiful. Yes, the form of french people speak is bastardized english-french pidgeon. It's kind of fun, to be honest. It's funny hearing people say stuff like "Tu est ou? Tu est ou?" or "Oui, il sera okay si vous faites la." The way we get around is by taxi. There are no addresses, just a couple of cartiers (neighborhoods) and important intersections. So you yell at the taxi driver as he drives up to you the place and price, if you want to go under the 200 Francs per person (I would say, to go home "Carfour Bastos, trois cent francs deux places" (Carfour is the intersection, Bastos is where we live, and 300 francs for 2 of us riding). Don't freak out when I tell you this, but they stuff about 5 of us in a taxi. All the taxis are totally beat up because the just whip around all over the place. Basically the rule is as long as it runs, it works. Second rule of Cameroon: everything is negotiable. There are cops who may occassionally stop you and say hey, you don't have this or that. You gotta go through the law (which means paying them money). Typically if you are nice to them and tell them they are doing a fantastic job, they will let you get away without paying anything. Not a whole lot of kids have seen white guys before, so often times kids will yell "Eh, les blancs! Bonjour! Bonjour!" One little girl once ran up to me and rubbed my arm to see what it felt like. I think it's hilarious. Sometimes we are called chinese. As it turns out, Cameroon and China have some kind of secret combination or something. I don't know all the details. So there are quite a few chinese here, and some kids think that we are chinese. Like I mentioned, we rarely go contacting. I never have, and it's because people are so accepting here. In fact, most people beleive in God and that He exists, but as long as you go to church, you are good. They also are pretty superstitious, so they never reject us. There was this drunk bunch of guys once telling me that the United States is the devil. "Les Etats-Unis est le diable! Et Barak Obama est un criminale! Il est le diable! Il est un faux noir! N'est-ce pas!?" They were pretty nice to me because they knew I was a missionarry. They think it's bad luck to be rude to a man of God, so they are pretty nice to us. There are a couple of serious problems plaguing our investigators and people in Yaoundé. First and foremost, marriage is really costly. People have to pay the wife's family a dote (spelling?) which can be upwards of 1 million Francs (about $2000, sometimes far more) and then go through the government to be civilly married (also costly). So law of chastity is a tough one for many to follow because they move in together and start a family, unmarried just due to the costliness of the dote. Many general authorities have come and told members to stop requiring a dote because it's basically forcing the people to break the law of chastity. Word of Wisdom is also tough. Don't freak out about this either, but a lot of people run around drinking and driving. We have hopped in taxis where the driver is drunk. The mototaxis (taxi drivers on motorcycles) drink virtually nonstop while driving around. I gave a blessing in French my first day. That was really neat. It was for a woman's daughter who was starting school. I blessed her that she will learn many things and will continue to learn well if she remembers God. It was really neat being able to say everything and feel the Spirit in French. I love all of you. Thank you for your love and support. I look forward continueing to serve the people here in cameroon. -Elder LaFleur

October 4th 2011

Bonjour, tout la monde!

C'était un autre semaine ici dans Cameroon, et il était beau! N'il y avait pas beacoup des choses pour moi écrire maintenant, mais je peux écrire un peu.

So life is still going on in Yaoundé. There have been a couple disappointments this week, but some really cool things too.

First of all, Temple in the DRC!!! I know I won't be going to Kinshasa during my mission, but I do want to come back for the dedication. Did you know my mission is the highest baptizing (because of the DRC, although the Saturday before I came in we had a baptism of 19 people on one Saturday in Yaoundé)? There are 6 stakes in Kinshasa alone, and the work is exploding there.

So I had a "Best Two Years" moment this week. I was with a meeting with Bennett (a member who gives sweet referrals) and my companion and I, along with another woman. He got a piece of bark and was talking about this food I've never eaten and how to prepare it from this bark. I wasn't paying much attention, until he handed it to me and said something along the lines of "mange mange mange, mange mange mange." I turned to Elder Tingey and asked him if I should eat it. He just said "Well, are you?" I moved it towards my mouth when Benjamin yelled "NO!!" and snatched it out of my hands. Everybody sat there and laughed. I felt pretty stupid, but I must admit, it was pretty funny..

We have been teaching a doctor named Frère Brent, and he is awesome. A little while ago we taught him and his wife the message of the Restoration, and watched the 20 minute video of the Restoration. Afterwards, I invited the two of them to be baptized. I was really, really nervous, but I asked, and they said yes! Frère Brent explained that he has been searching for the real church ever since he was 13, just like Joseph Smith, and then testified that it was true! It's always awesome to have your investigators testify to you.

Frère Brent is also a specialist (cardiology), and asked me to explain the Word of Wisdom to his wife. Turns out, that is exactly what he tells his patients. He explained that there is no way for Joseph Smith to have known all that about health in the 1830's. He then testified about how the Word of Wisdom is true revelation. Also awesome.

We have a lot of trouble with old traditions. We have a guy who refuses to be baptized right now (although he is totally prepared) because he does not want the blessings of baptism to enter his house he is currently living in. He explained that this house he is in right now is terrible, and he is building a new house. He will not let the blessings of his baptism be left in his old house! In fact, when he gets baptized, he wants us to carry him to his new house so the blessings of baptism can enter his new house.

This one of many, many examples of how people refuse to give up their old traditions even though they know that what we are teaching is true. There are many pastors whom we teach who learn of the truth of our church, and then don't get baptized because they will lose their job as a pastor. Others refuse because they "have been born catholic and they'll die catholic, darn it!" Still others say they've been baptized before (of course not by proper authority or properly, in some cases) and other others just can't accept the fact that the branch president/relief society president/other member belongs to their anciently rival tribe. Probably the biggest thing we have to face is old traditions.

Last Wednesday, we contacted a guy named Russ. Russ when we met him, was sitting on a bench with a beer in his hand. We walked over and talked to him, and he explained how life was really difficult for him. He explained how his whole family has been drinking, and he got caught in the same addiction. We told him about the word of wisdom, how all addictions can be overcome through the gospel, and about how his family can be together forever. He put down the beer and we will see him this week.

I also learned that it's a dang good thing I don't have trouble with stealing. Due to corruption, many laws that are written are not enforced (is it still a law if it's not enforced? See Alma 42?? It's somewhere in that whole talk to Corianton). And so, the people need to enforce the laws themselves.

I want to be honest: These people are wonderful, peaceful people. However, due to their impoverished state, they have gone to extremes to prevent theft. In fact, any who are caught stealing are beaten by everyone around and then burned alive. It's called a "Human Torch." If you get caught stealing, everyone will crowd around you and beat you up (often killing you) and if you are still alive afterwards they put you in a bunch of tires and light you on fire. It's more common in Congo with theives, because they are worse off then Cameroonians.

The only reason I know is because we have been told not to even look at large crowds of people. Elder and Sister Nuttal in Douala saw it happen while they were driving around. So a couple morals from this story: 1) Don't steal stuff, especially in Central Africa and 2) don't look at large crowds of people, especially in Central Africa.

Other than that, there is no danger here. I just have to make sure I keep my hands off of other people's stuff. Thankfully, if someone steals from me, no one will lift a finger (and I do mean thankfully!) because whites have the reputation to have lots of money here. So stealing from one of them isn't so bad.

To end on a happy note, Elder Tingey and I duked it out with a pastor last week. We were teaching Francie about prayer, and had her read Moroni's promise at the end. Just before she did, her old pastor at her old church walked in the door and sat down. We invited him to read it (his name was Frère Ernie).

So Frère Ernie read it and said "This is the most complex thing I have ever read. It's not in the Bible." Elder Tingey said "Really? It doesn't get much simpler. Pray with a sincere heart, real intent with faith in Christ; sounds easy to me." Frère Ernie then pulled out his bible and used a scripture that had no relevance. I piped up finally and said "Frère Ernie, you have read the Bible. N'est-ce pas?" He said yes. "And you prayed to know it's true?" He said yes again. "And you know by the Holy Ghost, that it's all true?" Frère Ernie, of course, said yes. "Well, it's the same for me with the Book of Mormon." And then I testified. It got him to stay quiet. The whole time Francie just sat there and giggled.

So life is going great. I look forward to all your emails!

Je vous aime.

- Elder LaFleur

Email: September 26, 2011

Before I forget, you all should look up this guy named "T.B. Joshua," a Nigerian prophet. Everyone here loves him. I'll try to explain it if I have time.

This week has been a bit of a disappointment, and very awesome at the same time.

Our three investigators who were to be baptized this week all bailed out on us. Cathy just came back from the village, so she isn't prepared. Her mother, Francie, wants to push it back to the middle of October instead of October 1st. Chris has work non stop until october 10th, and so he is waiting until the beginning of November. So that has been disappointing.

But here is some cool stuff that happened.

On friday, I got kind of sick. I had some gastrointestinal problems (spelling?) and had to go the bathroom at one of our investigators houses (he was an anglophone, so it wasn't hard to get across that I really had to go). His name is Brother Nbo, and he walked me out to this out house. He kept saying "It is okay. You are welcome." So I walked in, and he move a little rock over, exposing a hole in the ground. That's where I had to poop. I asked for some toilet paper, and he said "Oh, yes. Here it is," and pulled a couple of scraps of newspaper out from behind a wallboard. It was all ratty and dirty. I don't think it had been used before, but I wasn't about to find out, or complain. After he walked out, I dropped trow and let it all go. I thought to myself "Well, welcome to Africa," as I squatted over a little hole in the ground.

When I was finished I washed my hands in a bucket of water Brother Nbo got me. He kept saying "Yes, yes. We are together. We are together" over and over. I didn't know what, but I thanked him and washed my hands and we all sat down again. Brother Nbo then said something along the lines of this:

"You know, I am very glad that you are willing to use the toilet like we do. I think it is wonderful. We are together. There are other whites who come here, and they refuse to do what we do. They don't visit. They don't talk to us. They don't eat our food. They don't use the toilet like we do. And we feel like it is because we have a different culture or different colored skin. But I am so happy that you were willing to use my toilet because it shows that we are together. You and I are brothers, and you do not mind doing what I do, and living the way I do. It makes me happy that you are that way."

So although I suffered some pretty unpleasant times, it ended up being for the best. Brother Nbo was happy to see a white kid be willing to live the same way he does, and that was pretty cool.

My next cool story happened last tuesday.

So Elder Tingey and I were teaching a lesson to an investigator, when two young kids walked up to us and asked us what we were talking about. Elder Tingey and I gave them brochures on le Rétablissment de l'évangile, and they left. During our next rendezvous, we got a call from them and they said "Hey, we gotta talk to you right now. We are at your church. Come over quick!" So we did.

We taught them the first lesson, and the Spirit was so strong. It was so awesome. During the lesson, I felt impressed to give them le Livre de Mormon, so I did. After the closing prayer, one of them, Will, explained that the two of them were from Cribe, another town, and they went to Yaoundé to visit a girl. On the way to visit her, they passed us and got the brochures. They went to the girl's house, and it ended up being that she had left on a trip, and wasn't even in Yaoundé. So the two of them sat there and read that brochure. They had this strong impression to meet with us. Finally Will said that "I didn't come here to meet that girl, like I thought. I came here to get this book and hear this message, because it is true." The Lord had prepared a way for these two to receive the true gospel, and get the Book of Mormon, and I got to be a part of it. I just saw something miraculous, and I got a front row seat.

So T.B. Joshua is a "prophet" who has a TV show in Nigeria and gets broadcasted into central Africa. Everyone thinks he is a prophet because he "casts out demons" and prophecies of things. We share the scripture that in the last days there will be false prophets, but everyone, even some members, still totally believe it. In fact we taught one member who said, as if she were bearing her testimony, "I know that T.B. Joshua is a prophet of God." I had to try so hard from not just giggling. So you should look him up.

So those are some of the things I've experienced this week. I hope you all enjoy these messages and reading my wonderful adventures in Cameroon. This is a wonderful place. These are wonderful people who have been prepared to hear this message. And it is fantastic. I love it here.

Until next week, I'll see you in the funny books.

- Elder LaFleur